Couch Surfing?

Here is something I recently discovered: Couch surfing. And apparently there is a movement for it [ like everything else in America]. It brings to mind the ‘On the Road’ feelings of the 50s and 60s, of hippies or something just thumbing it across the US, crashing here and there. But in today’s easily scared and highly untrusting society, it amazes me that this is still something to be done.  It is like picking up a hitchhiker, only you are letting them into your home, and you are completely vulnerable. So it is worse than picking up a hitchhiker! To heck with Jack Kerouac!

However, to look at www.couchsurfing.com, you get the feeling that maybe not everyone in the world is distrustful and skeptical.  This website is the couch surfer’s portal, where you can find couches to sleep on as well as volunteer your own couch to a stranger.  Complete with stats testifying to the success of couch surfing, couchsurfing.com is full of testimonies from real people-surfers and couch-givers-that gives a personal view to this phenomenon.

Staying with strangers isn’t new to society. Years ago when many traveled on foot and accomodations were scarce, a light in the window of a home meant a place to stay for the night and hopefully, something to eat.  But times have changed and post 9-11, would anyone even  conceive of allowing a complete stranger in to their home to sleep?

I guess so.

But in a way it makes sense to on a couple of levels. One, basically normal Americans want to believe in the best in people, and with the internet in nearly every home, doing a background check on a person isn’t hard anymore.  You can check out your couch surfer that way, and ease your mind a bit. This frees people up to take the chance of offering their couch or considering this as a viable lodging alternative.   Two, it is kind of fun to meet a new person for a bit, cheap entertainment if you will. Take some precautions inside the home in the event things turn sour, but enjoy learning from and about your new houseguest. Many couch surfers like to help out around the house-one I know of built shelving and did odd jobs in exchange for lodging-or can entertain children, help cook, etc. It is like having the excitement of Aunt Martha coming, without the annoyance of her staying 3 weeks!  By the time the novelty wears off, your guest is on their way to another couch. And third, in this depression, oh wait, I am sorry- economic downturn- cheaper modes of travel and transportation are becoming increasingly popular. A free couch isn’t the Ritz, but it will do!

Who would have thought that in this school-shooting, child-molesting, terror level world, people would want to set up housekeeping in a stranger’s living room for a night, or that people would allow a stranger to drowse on the davenport? I didn’t.

That’s pretty cool.

 

 

For further exploring, check out www.couchsurfing.com I am in no way affiliated with this site, no receive any type of compensation for mentioning them.

Barack Obama the Anti-Christ?

Nah…I don’t think so. I have heard alot of chatter recently, even pre-election, about Obama being the one to usher in the armageddon, but I really kind of doubt it. I heard people say this about George W Bush too.  True most people aren’t real thrilled with him and his administration right now, but to say he is the one to unite the world and be in complete control is unrealistic. Obama, however, has more potential. He had foreign leaders speaking to him even before he when he was campaigning. Now that he has won the presidency, he is getting calls from world leaders who are offering their congrats.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/06/obama-accepts-congratulations-world-leaders/

Whoa. Or how about this:

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/06/nations-look-obama-president-world/

But what is the antichrist? There are several thoughts but all point to a man of lawlessness, who becomes a world leader, in direct opposition to God while  pretending to His servant. 

Check out answers.com:

A term which can mean either “opposed to Christ” or “a substitute for Christ” or a blend of the two. It is used in the Johannine epistles to designate either individuals (II John 7) or the spiritual force (I John 4:3) which deny the Father and the son (I John 2:22) and that Jesus came in the flesh (I John 4:3; II John 7). The author of these epistles stressed that the present manifestation of the spirit of antichrist was a sign that the last hour had arrived (I John 2:18; 4:3). The term in the Johannine epistles is especially directed against docetism, an early form of Christian gnosticism, which denied that the man crucified was the Son of God. According to this view, the divine person had left his body before the crucifixion. Underlying John’s use of the term is a dualistic cosmogony which anticipates a decisive spiritual battle in the last days between the forces of good and evil, Christ and Satan. The idea of a single human being opposed to Christ hearkens back to Daniel chapter 7 where a horned beast with one horn having “the eyes of a man” and boasting great things, is represented as standing over against the Son of man. The idea of many individuals opposing Christ appears in the apocalyptic discourse in Matthew’s gospel in which Jesus predicted that in the last days many false christs and false prophets would arise and do such wonders as to deceive the very elect (Matt 24:4-5, 23-24).No NT author other than John uses the term “antichrist”, but a similar concept of a spiritual force opposed to Christ which will manifest itself in the last days in a specific human being is used by Paul in II Thessalonians 2:3-9 where he speaks of the “man of lawlessness”. According to Paul, this individual, empowered by Satan and the embodiment of all that is opposed to God, will be defeated by Christ at his second coming (II Thes 2:8). Most interpreters link the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, with “the beast” of Revelation 11:7. Like the man of lawlessness, the beast is empowered by Satan (though he is not Satan) and will be defeated by Christ (Rev 19:19-20).

Concordance
I John 2:18,22; 4:3. II John v. 7

Ok, so just given the little bit I have posted here, why do I NOT think Obama is the man? Well, I am just guessing since I am no prophet or mindreader but I just don’t think God would do that to the black people.  To give the African-American race the great victory of becoming president-holding the highest office in the land-and then having that person turn out to be the one who brings destruction. It doesn’t make sense. I know that many of God’s plans don’t ‘make sense’ to our finite, human minds but for now, this just doesn’t make sense to me.  Obama isn’t the antichrist, I don’t believe, but he may be the tool which ushers in the true antichrist. Also, his proposed agenda seems to herald more end-times events such as world unity and a world money system.  Euro, anyone? Failed economy in the US, anyone? Israeli emphasis, anyone?  But the end is coming anyway.  Just seems like there is a little more lately to signal it’s arrival.  I am no eschatological scholar but this is something to think about.  I actually try to stay away from Revelations-type studies and such, as I figure that the Book of Revelations is a mystery to a great extent and shall remain as such and I frankly don’t want to get into it. The end will come.  I worry more about how my day to day living is, my daily walk, than what may be in store.

Obama is an interesting guy. Smart, charismatic, and eloquent. Well-read. Lovely, intelligent wife and two beautiful daughters.  I think he will make a good president, I really do.  I look forward to seeing what he will do. The important thing to remember is that Barack Obama is not our salvation. That title is only given to One: Jesus Christ.

Not a bad book…

Being a huge Gone With the Wind fan, I had to try Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig.  Yes, I mean try, like trying on a new pair of shoes or trying a different dessert. The reason is that, and I am sure this isn’t a shock to you, but the original author of Gone With the Wind is dead.  Margaret Mitchell died in 1949.  The Margaret Mitchell Estate authorized the first so-called sequel to this great American novel in 1991 with the publishing of Alexandra Ripley’s Scarlett.  It went to press amidst great controversy since it was never really clear if Mitchell planned a sequel.  Sources close to her say she did not. But Scarlett did do well despite poor reviews, and I suspect Rhett Butler’s People will do the same over time.   People like sequels, and perhaps enough time has passed or the collective national brain has become mush to the point that something ‘authorized’ by an estate passes for the real thing.  It is nothing  more than riding the GWTW gravy train.  I read Scarlett  and was less than impressed. The book tried too hard to be something it could never be. When I tried to sell it on half.com earlier this year, I could not give it away.  Fortunately, while not a ‘companion book’ to GWTW, Rhett Butler’s People  fares much better.

Rhett Butler’s People  tells of Rhett’s life growing up, his point of view during the ‘GWTW’ years, and adds a postscript on what happens to everyone after the war for a time. It is not a bad book. It is written well enough and interesting enough to be able to stand alone as a novel. McCaig interjects enough tidbits from the original novel to give it flavor and does expand Rhett’s character quite a bit.   The same familiar characters are there, as well as many new ones who intertwine with the ones we know and love.  However, is this what Margaret Mitchell would have approved of?  Rosemary Butler Haynes Ravanel and Melanie Wilkes become friends and Melanie writes to Rosemary about how she would love to make love with her husband, Ashley, but cannot because Dr. Meade forbade her from becoming pregnant again.  However, after Scarlett and Ashley are caught in an embrace at the sawmill, Melanie turns her womanly charms on Ashley and ends up pregnant.  Hmmm. Interesting. Good reading. But would Margaret have done it that way?

The fact of the matter is that we will never know.  For some estate to authorize something with hopes to mimic the original-which was artistic and individual and fiercely personal- simply for the sake of their gain, is not art. It is greed.   Rhett Butler’s People is no sequel.  It has no authority to set a tone for GWTW, nor provide details on the post-war life. It is merely a southern historical fiction novel.  Not terrible at all. Well-written and entertaining for sure. But for true fans of the epic Gone With the Wind, this book is nothing more than another attempt at padding the bottom line.

You cannot rewrite history.

Don’t buy this junk…

Recently I had the opportunity to try two new fast food products on the market. Here is my unbiased opinion:

Taco Bell’s Frutista Freeze

http://www.tacobell.com/frutistafreeze/

Crap.  For a hefty $1.99 price tag, this 12 oz sugar fest is not worth the money at all. We had the Mango Strawberry and let me tell you, it lives up to the website’s disclaimer: Product does not contain real fruit juice. At first sip, it was very mangoey, and then there was an unpleasant synthetic aftertaste.  It is nothing more than a mango Slurpee [7 Eleven].  The 5 1/2 pieces of strawberry bits on top do indeed resemble a sundae topping, and sank quickly to the bottom of the slush, where they were sucked up at odd times in the narrow straw, startling us.  In all honesty, the flavor is nothing to rave over and the $2 for the tiny cup could have been better spent getting a large 20 oz iced coffee from McDonald’s with the caffeine power to keep 14 toddlers awake for days. Now THAT is a bargain.

McDonald’s Southern Style Chicken Biscuit

http://cep.mcdonalds.com/foodnews/biscuit/

Speaking of McDonald’s, I also sampled the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit recently as well, thanks to a free coupon from a friend. I was eager to try this, as I think the combination is unusual and sounds tempting. Kind of like chicken fried steak for breakfast but without the gravy and stuff. It looked appealing when I unwrapped it. However, the chicken inside, while warm and fragrant, had enough weird and rubbery parts lodged in it that I had to gag.  You know what I mean.  You are chewing a nice, tender piece of chicken and then there is this…piece… like rubber, sometimes kind of hard….like the chicken’s tendon or hamstring or something.  It was not great and made me remember why I try not to eat at McDonald’s much in the first place.  Obviously, it was traumatic because I devoted all this space to typing about it!  The other part was the biscuit. Smaller than I imagined and what it looks like in the ad.  Maybe 4 inches in diameter, tops.  Incredibly greasy and if that grease was butter, it would have been heavenly.  As Paula Deen says, “everything is better with a stick of butter.”  We know it is not butter though, don’t we?  But the worst thing was that despite their individual moistness, the combo of chicken and biscuit was rather dry.  Seemed to need a piece of cheese or some type of sauce, ooh a gravy sauce, or something to dampen things up a bit.  I had to drink alot of coffee to wash it down.  It wasn’t horrible, and the price tag of $2.89 in the Midwest, isn’t horrific.  But it makes me want to just stick to my usual Sausage Burrito or the venerable Egg McMuffin.

And now you know…

This is my first post.

This is my first post. I think I will edit it and start blogging. I have debated for a long time whether to blog or not. I don’t want to look like I am trying to cash in on the blogging trend, where anyone of even the most marginal talent can have their words on the world wide web in a nanosecond for all to see and disseminate.  I know that a decent blog must be relevant, entertaining, well-written, and current.  With all that is going on, do I really need one more thing to confine me and control me?  Will blogging take away from precious family time?  Only time will tell. However, over the past few months I have been jotting down ideas. I have been phrasing sentences and paragraphs in my mind.  When I read any type of literature, it is with a critical and gleaning eye.  Perhaps the part of me that has been missing from me is writing. There is something so awesome, so abnormal, so unique about having a good blog.  It is all what you make of it. I want to change the world. But perhaps with this little free blog which millions of people can sign up for, regardless of intellect, I can make someone smile. Or think. Or pray. Or cry. Or write their congressman.